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Washington a spark for Cowboys

Wyoming senior forward Leonard Washington scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the second half in the Cowboys’ 56-40 win against UC-Santa Barbara Friday night in Laramie.

He scored eight straight points to start the second half, and also had a big blocked shot and drew a change at a key time.

“Leonard has a strong personality, and he’s a volatile, passionate guy,” coach Larry Shyatt said. “He wears it, and those who do that translate it to the people him. Sometimes that is a blessing and sometimes it is not. But our team responds to Leonard’s aggressiveness. There’s not question he tipped the scale and got the rest of us in gear.”

Washington also had 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and 11th in his career.

A few other items that didn’t make the newspaper, website or blog after Friday’s game:

–Senior guard Luke Martinez on his thoughts of the upcoming Mountain West schedule: “I’ve heard about it. I heard its supposed to be great. I’m not worried about that personally, and I don’t think this team is worried about that. What’s the next game? We’re looking forward to SMU (Jan. 2) instead of what this conference is gong to be like.”

–Shyatt on this team: “I don’t know where we go from here. We don’t know how the book ends. We don’t even know what the next chapter will be like. Right now the focus is to spend some time with the people you love. Come back here on the 27th, worry about us for a few days and the only thing on the schedule will be SMU. Those are (the players) words, not mine.”

–Washington on the 12-0 Cowboys not being ranked: “It doesn’t cross my mind at all. It’s something we’re not in control of. We have to keep coming in night in and night out and do the things that we do.”

–As of Saturday afternoon, UW was one of six undefeated teams among the 347 in Division I in the country.

–Shyatt on the team’s 12-0 start, which matches the best in school history: ” I told them you now got yourself a record you’re part of. But I said is anybody here satisfied? You have an older, greedy coach that’s not. I don’t feel like they were satisfied.”

–Although he didn’t have any specifics, Shyatt said he was “tickled” that his players will set record in terms of grades or grade point average for a semester in the program.

For more on this team and its unique make-up, see my column in Sunday’s Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Laramie Boomerang, and go to www.wyosports.net.

2 thoughts on “Washington a spark for Cowboys”

That is the extent of my Espanol. But what I am excited about is this Cowboy B’ball program. It isn’t anything more than kids playing up to their potential, day in and night out. A coaching staff that my friend and I refer to as a brain trust directly linked to a philosophy of Yoda. When Larry speaks, I’m not sure if I’m listening to an oratory of Plato or that of Einstein. Whatever he’s saying is working at a level unlike we’ve ever seen. I get it we are not playing a heavy schedule like a Michigan State or Duke, but what is progressing is better than I think any of us ever expected.

Streaming with Dave and Kevin has left me thinking that this is uncharted territory, “off air” i heard Walsh say that “we could be really, really good” then Kevin says “yea, remember two years ago”….Walsh responds “yea, weren’t we 0-12” Chuckle, chuckle. What a difference a Coach makes. What if we had Dez, and M’baye? Schroyer had a talent for getting players and it is evident with what’s occurred with a guy that can Coach.

I guess at Christmas time I’m thankful for a good guy coming back to a forlorn program. Restoring a confidence and trust with his University and fan base. Then allowing true joy to occur in the midst of a winning attitude, and altitude which is the greatest gift to many of us this time of year. It’s fun to attend the AA again.